Two-thirds of the 2022 World Series of Poker Europe is in the books as of tonight, with significant action around the King’s Casino in Rozvadov. In the €2000 Eight Game Mixed tournament, Event #10 on the schedule, Thomer Pidun added his name to the illustrious list of players who have captured a WSOP bracelet. Elsewhere, the “big guns” were out for the start of the Diamond High Roller as the Main Even looms on the horizon.
Pidun Tops Kovalchuk to Earn First Bracelet
It is considered one of the greatest tests of a poker player’s abilities – how they handle mixed game action. Event #10 on the 2022 WSOPE schedule was such an event, with a €2000 buy-in that drew in a decent field of 102 entries. There were some intriguing stories for Day Two, including a player who has added to his legacy at the WSOP and the defending champion of this tournament.
Shaun Deeb, who has been one of the most successful players at the WSOP (wherever it is) over the past few years, led the way with 21 players remaining at the start of Day Two. While Deeb was seeking his sixth WSOP bracelet, the defending champion of this very event, Julien Martini, was lurking back in the pack with a decent stack of chips. Add in other players like Yuval Bronshtein, Daniel Negreanu, and Nacho Barbero, and pack them close together in chip counts, and an exciting day of mixed-game action was afoot.
With 21 players back, there was some bad news, however. Only sixteen players would receive cash from the tournament, meaning that five players would walk away empty-handed. Martini was one of those early victims, dropping in a hand of Pot Limit Omaha against Julien Sitbon. A more exciting hand was in the offering, though, which resulted in the money bubble popping.
It was a three-way all-in situation, with Giorgio Montebelli, Nacho Barbero, and Israel Bulut in a hand of No Limit Hold’em. Bulut had pocket Jacks to commit his stack with, but Barbero had pocket Queens to top Bulut. Montebelli was in tough shape with his pocket eights but, after the flop came down 4-2-8, he rocketed into the lead in the hand. Montebelli was able to dodge both a Jack and a Queen on the turn and river to triple up, while Barbero was cut down to 325K in chips and Bulut was out on the bubble.
Deeb Bleeds Chips, Doesn’t Make Final Table
The news wasn’t good for Deeb, either. Although he knocked out Didier Rabl in sixteenth place, Deeb would lose a massive amount of his stack and found himself all in against Phillip Krieger in Razz. The cards didn’t agree with Deeb, coming with enough paint for the Mona Lisa, while Krieger hit a six-five to take the hand and eliminate the dangerous Deeb in a surprising fifteenth place.
It was about this time that Pidun began to make his move. He would double through Roman Verenko in Deuce to Seven Triple Draw, then picked up a huge stack of chips in Omaha Eight or Better (Hi/Lo) when he diced up a pot with Oleksil Kovalchuk and knocked out Bronshtein. Once the final table was determined, Pidun continued to show his expertise at Deuce to Seven by taking some chips from Barbero and Dario Alioto.
Down to six players, Pidun was trailing only Julien Sitbon, but he quickly rectified that situation. He would win a nice-sized pot against both Kovalchuk and Krieger in PLO to crack the million-chip mark, then took out Sitbon and Krieger in fourth and third places, respectively, to go to heads up against Kovalchuk with a slight lead.
It didn’t start well for Pidun. Kovalchuk was able to get out to a massive lead in PLO and Deuce to Seven, bringing Pidun down to only about 900K in chips (against Kovalchuk’s 4.2 million). Omaha Hi/Lo and Limit Hold’em brought the stacks back to equal again before Pidun was able to seize the advantage.
The final hand came in Limit Hold’em, with Kovalchuk committing his stack with pocket nines against Pidun’s suited J♣ 6♣. Two clubs on the flop gave Pidun hope, but Kovalchuk still had the lead after the turn didn’t bring another club. Pidun would catch the river lightning, however, as the A♣ hit the felt to completely flip the hand and earn the title for Thomer Pidun at the 2022 WSOPE.
1. Thomer Pidun (Germany), €49,245
2. Oleksil Kovalchuk (Ukraine), €30,430
3. Philipp Krieger (Germany), €21,311
4. Julien Sitbon (France), €15,299
5. Dario Alioto (Italy), €11,266
6. Nacho Barbero (Argentina), €8516
7. Allen Kessler (USA), €6612
Day One in the Books for Diamond High Roller
The €50,000 Diamond High Roller, Event #11 on the 2022 WSOPE calendar, had danger around every corner. It also doesn’t have a solidified number for the prize pool or how many players will take a piece of it. That’s because late registration in the tournament will go on into Friday’s action, giving those who were on the fence about playing (or have already gotten in and want a second shot) the chance to gather the funding.
What we do know to this point is that there have been 39 entries into the tournament, with 22 players making it to the end of the day. Leading the way is Canada’s Timothy Adams, who has a couple of Dutch pros in hot pursuit of him.
1. Timothy Adams (Canada), 5.265 million
2. Teun Mulder (Netherlands), 3.59 million
3. Jorryt van Hoof (Netherlands), 3.42 million
4. Laszlo Bujtas (Hungary), 3.025 million
5. Nick Petrangelo (USA), three million
There are plenty of recognizable faces around the tables for this High Roller event, including Ole Schemion, Sam Grafton, Daniel Negreanu, and Platinum High Roller winner Paul Phua. Action will pick up on Friday with Level 14, and late registration will close at the end of Level 15. At that point, we’ll know the final numbers for what should be the biggest prize pool of the 2022 WSOPE to this point.